Beiit-btjcede



W. B. BALLOU.

BELT BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10. I9!!!- 1 3 12, 670 Patented Aug. 1 2, 1919. I

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\ l1zverzta7' 3 WM 6 aw WALTER B. BALLOU, OF NORTH ATTLEBORO,MASSACHUSETTS.

BELT-BUCKLE.

Application filed January 10, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER B. BALLOU citizen of the United States, andresident of North Attleboro, county of Bristol, State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt-Buckles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to belt buckles and is particularly intended toprovide an inexpensive but reliable buckle suitable for army service orother services where great strength and durability are required, andwhere it is especially desirable that no special appliances or devicesbe required to attach or secure the belt to the buckle.

To this end the buckle comprises, generally speaking, a body memberconsisting of a front plate having in-turned flanges in which is pivotedan angle lever with its short arm or lip arranged to clamp the free oradjustable end of the belt against the rear or inside surface of thefront plate and having pivotally mounted in the free end of saidclamping lever, a supplemental angle lever arranged to swing in thereverse direction to clamp the anchored or fixed end of the belt againstthe rear or inside face of the main clamping lever in such manner thatthe belt and the buckle parts lie snugly against the body while theclamping action is increased by every additional strain on the belt.

This and other features of the invention will be described in thefollowing specification and will be defined in the claim annexed hereto.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the preferred formembodying the principles of this invention in which:

Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section through the buckle showingthe parts in operative position to secure the belt.

Fig. 2 is an inside elevation of the buckle with the belt ends removed.a

Fig. 3 shows in perspective the three parts of the belt buckle separatedfor inspection.

In the practice of this invention according to the form illustrated inthe drawings, the main body portion of the buckle com-- prises frontplate a having opposite inwardly turned flanges a in which at a suitabledistance from the front plate are formed perforations a to receive thepintles of the main clamping member.

The main clamping member is here shown in the form of an angle levercomprising the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

Serial No. 211,279.

plate I) and the short angularly disposed lip b projecting from theforward or front face of the plate I). Projecting from the opposite orrear face of the plate I) are the inwardly turned flanges 6 providedwith alined perforations 72*. At the angle where the plate 6 and the lipI) join, are formed oppositely projecting pintles b which are adapted tobe inserted in the alined apertures a of the flanges a.

Pivotally mounted in the outer or free end of the clamping lever b is asupple mental clamping member comprising an angle lever similar to thatalready described and consisting of a plate 0 having an angularlydisposed lip c and having oppositely projecting pintles c at the angleformed by the lip and the plate a. The pintles are adapted to beinserted in the alined apertures b in the main angle lever. It will benoticed that the main clamping lever swings toward the inside or rearface of the front plate with a rotative movement in one direction, whilethe supplemental clamping lever o swings toward the rear face of theplate 7; by a rotative movement reverse to that of the main plate.

The device is used in the following manner. The anchored or fixed end ofthe strap is inserted between the angle lever 0 and the adjacent face ofthe main clamping lever 72. The angle lever c is then swung inwardthereby pinching the belt securely between the lip c and the rear faceof the plate I). The main clamping lever is then swung out away from thefront plate sufficiently to allow the free or adjustable end of the beltto be inserted to the desired point, after which said main lever isswung back into parallelism with and against the interposed -portion ofthe belt.

It will be observed that each of these three parts can be made of sheetmetal by a stamping die and that no rivets, stitches or other specialmeans are required for anchoring or securing the belt to the buckle. Itwill also be observed that the greater the strain applied to the belt,the more firmly each of the clamping levers will be clamped against theadjacent portion of the strap.

As shown 1n, the drawings the short arms or lips I) 0 of the respectivelevers may be serrated to, give a firmer grip against the belt byindenting its prongs into the belt.

A belt buckle embracing in its construe jecting forwardly toward theclamping lever to pinch the fixed end of the belt against said clampinglever, substantially as de- 10 scribed.

"In Witness whereof, I have subscribed the above specification.

WALTER B. BALLOU.

ti on a front plate having rearwardly turned flanges, a clamping leverpivotally mounted in said flanges with its short arm arranged to pinchthe free end of the belt against the back face of the front plate and ananchoring lever pivotally mounted in said clamping lever 'and having itsshort arm pro- Copies of this patent may be obtained for five centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. 0.

